Summer Shorts festival has something for every theatrical flavor

BY Jack Zink | Theater/Music Writer
Published:Jun 03, 2008

City Theatre's annual Summer Shorts began its 13th annual play festival with history on its side, the evidence showing that some ideas are great by their very nature, perfectly fit to the times they inhabit.

Short plays were not new when Summer Shorts launched in the mid '90s but they were on the fringe, odd little specimens even when showcased at the esteemed Humana Festival in Louisville, Ky.

City Theatre founders embraced the concept whole hog, and over the years the Miami-Fort Lauderdale festival has become the nation's premier vehicle for theatrical anthology. Summer Shorts is entertainment by the bagful, like jelly beans ranging from those spicy cinnamon reds to the fruity pastels and the tart licorice blacks.

Also like a bag of jelly beans, it's nearly impossible to pull out one or just a few from the 13th annual edition as the most (or least) tasty. Under new artistic director Stuart Meltzer, the Shorts achieve a kind of serio-comic satisfaction zone that tickles the funny bone and tugs the heartstrings without upsetting either. Yet while there are no real duds here, that also is the 2008 Summer Shorts' flaw — there's nothing to reel the senses with full-bore dramatic power or, drat, even the guilty thrill of sheer awfulness.

The Signature Series is made up of two shows, each with eight individual playlets in Programs A and B. At Saturday's official opening double-header, program A ran 1:45 and, after a delightful between-shows light meal, Program B clocked in at 1:40.

The plays once again tend to be longer, reflecting a trend in recent years. The shortest, Paul Rudnick's comical gay manifesto Sheepish, runs just under eight minutes (the only selection under 10), while the longest, Bill Wrubel's On Story — a 21st-century version of Neil Simon's Laughter on the 21st Floor — stretches to 22 minutes.

The running times reflect authors' attempts, and the festival's desire, to dig deeper into situations and find richer experience. David Mamet's hard-hitting Home even spans three distinct scenes in its 14-minute evolution, depicting a family breaking apart on the rocks of mismatched careers.

The extra time can let some stories breathe, and wrap tendrils of emotional attachment around the audience. But that's not always the case. Throughout its history, many of Summer Shorts' best discoveries operated on the power of idea and pure economy of description, generally ranging from three to 10 minutes.

Still, the anticipation that there's something else new, different and potentially exhilarating just around the corner is as much a part of this year's festival as any that went before. The best of Program A includes author Harry Meyerson's Silence, a touching essay about two Russians who survived the Holocaust and meet shortly after immigrating to New York following World War II. Stephen Trovillion is the quiet husband, Laura Turnbull the devoted wife, and Antonio Amadeo their son, who serves as narrator. Turnbull, in her first Shorts series, and Trovillion, a pillar of ensembles for 10 years, are a remarkable and versatile pair.

Other standouts are Parent Interview, about a couple trying to get their kid into an elite kindergarten; Laura Keene Goes On, a backstage scene on the day Lincoln was shot; Tongue Tied, about sock puppets that take over the lives of people who wear them; and Jody's Mother, a tragedy about a good woman whose son has gone very, very bad.

Program B features It's a Girl, with Turnbull as the spirit of a newborn baby who hovers over her father as he sees her in the hospital for the first time. Also on hand are the aforementioned Sheepish, Home and On Story, plus A Little Chatter, a charming vignette about a Little League coach and the mother of one of his players, with powerful overtones of 9-11.

Jack Zink can be reached at jzink@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4706.